Industrial dryers of conventional construction have often used a free standing vortex containing hot gases swirling around in a vortex mode in an open space. Drying of wet materials directed into the path of travel of hot gases flowing through the space causes the liquid content of the materials to be separated and evaporated from the solid content of the materials directed into the path of the hot gases. The vortex seems to work on the principal of centrifugal force wherein the liquid content is dripped from the solid content, leaving the solid content in the vicinity of the vortex while the liquid content and portions of the solid content are removed by evaporation from the space in which the vortex takes place. While the desired aim is the saving of time in drying industrial materials and waste of all types, it is also important that the apparatus for drying materials using a free standing vortex be simple and rugged in construction and have a relatively few number of moving parts yet the dryer provides for the drying of industrial materials in a minimum of time with a high degree of efficiency. The present invention provides such a dryer.